Overclocking 3570k with the Z77 Sabertooth. Help needed please!

[euphoria4949]

Hi to all,

I would really like some advice regarding overclocking with the ASUS Z77 Sabertooth. I have my i5 3570k OC'ed on it at the moment, 4200Mhz (100x42) @1.065v 99% stable, (might increase it a fraction to get it 100%). I did have it at 4400Mhz but I was worried about the voltage.
Anyway, I'm new to OC'ing but I did a lot of research into it before I even tried a tiny OC, and so far all has been well. But as I said above I was a bit concerned about the voltage. I know 1.065v isn't high, but it was running at that clock 4.2Ghz and that voltage 100% of the time. Now I had read in a few threads about getting your CPU to run at lower clocks and voltages when it's idling, then when you stress the system the voltage increases and the OC kicks in.
Well I was looking through my BIOS today and trying a few things and..... Eureka! Now my CPU is idling at 3.*Ghz and the voltage is down to 0.800, plus my idle temps have dropped, but when I stress it, it kicks in up to 4.2Ghz and 1.065v =) Perfect!........ BUT! I don't know how I did it LOL :-\

So could some kind person that owns or has good knowledge of the Sabertooth please advice on what I changed to get it to do this because I've gone back into the BIOS and for the life of me I can't figure out how I did it lol.
Also, this might be a stupid question but I'll ask anyway. Is it better for the CPU to be running at a low clock while idling with lower voltage but with the voltage jumping around all the time from 0.8* to 0.9*, or is it better to just have it constant at 4.2Ghz and a constant voltage, if you see what I mean???

I hope I explained myself well enough there.
Thanks guys, would really appreciate a bit of advice.

Cheers

 

[n1ghtr4v3n]

As long as you keep your voltage and temperatures in safe limits you should have no worries. It doesnt matter if you run at a higher frequency or a lower frequency (assuming that you actually stay in safe temp/voltage limits)

The biggest difference will be the power consumption of your system. The more frequency you work the more power it consumes... Lets say if your cpu is downclocked when its idle its consuming like 35-40W, but when its on full power it will be using up to 77W (which is the TDP limit for most IvyBridge's) so the difference will be like 30-35W per hour. It will be like you are lighting another light bulb in your house so you expect some extra bills

Update: If you dont care about the bills thats fine. But also running at a higher voltage even if its under safe limits will decrease your cpu's effective life span for sure. But I say its ok, unless you are willing to use the same system for like ~10 years

 

[euphoria4949]

As long as you keep your voltage and temperatures in safe limits you should have no worries. It doesnt matter if you run at a higher frequency or a lower frequency (assuming that you actually stay in safe temp/voltage limits)

The biggest difference will be the power consumption of your system. The more frequency you work the more power it consumes... Lets say if your cpu is downclocked when its idle its consuming like 35-40W, but when its on full power it will be using up to 77W (which is the TDP limit for most IvyBridge's) so the difference will be like 30-35W per hour. It will be like you are lighting another light bulb in your house so you expect some extra bills

Update: If you dont care about the bills thats fine. But also running at a higher voltage even if its under safe limits will decrease your cpu's effective life span for sure. But I say its ok, unless you are willing to use the same system for like ~10 years

Thanks for your reply.
Well lowering the electric bill by a few £$ is always a good thing, so I think as long as it's safe for the voltage to be jumping up and down depending on the load then I'll stick with that. Especially as it's dropped my idle temps, it's pushing 40c outside now and it's in a room that needs the AC replaced so it gets warm.

One other thing, do you know what the safe limits are for i5 Ivy's??? Or maybe where I could find out???

Thanks again

 

[n1ghtr4v3n]

As long as you keep your voltage and temperatures in safe limits you should have no worries. It doesnt matter if you run at a higher frequency or a lower frequency (assuming that you actually stay in safe temp/voltage limits)

The biggest difference will be the power consumption of your system. The more frequency you work the more power it consumes... Lets say if your cpu is downclocked when its idle its consuming like 35-40W, but when its on full power it will be using up to 77W (which is the TDP limit for most IvyBridge's) so the difference will be like 30-35W per hour. It will be like you are lighting another light bulb in your house so you expect some extra bills

Update: If you dont care about the bills thats fine. But also running at a higher voltage even if its under safe limits will decrease your cpu's effective life span for sure. But I say its ok, unless you are willing to use the same system for like ~10 years

Thanks for your reply.
Well lowering the electric bill by a few £$ is always a good thing, so I think as long as it's safe for the voltage to be jumping up and down depending on the load then I'll stick with that. Especially as it's dropped my idle temps, it's pushing 40c outside now and it's in a room that needs the AC replaced so it gets warm.

One other thing, do you know what the safe limits are for i5 Ivy's??? Or maybe where I could find out???

Thanks again

intel data sheets shows that ivy bridge tdp is 77W, and your cpu dye has durability up to 100C.... BUT.... this temp is only for a short amount of time (like a second or two maybe?) safe limits as a general common sense is like, under max cpu load, is around 70C (it varies few degrees up or down). If i were you I wouldnt want to pass 75C at all under stress testing with prime95 or intel burn test.

you are welcome. have fun

 

[euphoria4949]

That's brilliant thank you.
Oh and I just found what the maximum Vcore is for i5 Ivy's, Intel say it's 1.5v! LOL there was silly old me thinking I was getting pretty high with less than 1.1v

Thanks again for your help, taken a weight off my mind.

To everyone else, I would still really appreciate some Sabertooth experts to advise me on just how I managed to get my CPU to run at lower frequencies when idling =)

 

[n1ghtr4v3n]

That's brilliant thank you.
Oh and I just found what the maximum Vcore is for i5 Ivy's, Intel say it's 1.5v! LOL there was silly old me thinking I was getting pretty high with less than 1.1v

Thanks again for your help, taken a weight off my mind.

To everyone else, I would still really appreciate some Sabertooth experts to advise me on just how I managed to get my CPU to run at lower frequencies when idling =)

well 1.5V is actually pretty high... you wouldnt want to work with more than 1.25-1.3V. and that should be even with a good cooler. dont think about stock cooler either...

consider that, every increment of voltage will result as 1-2C of temps in return.

so the basic idea is; to get the most stable working frequency with the least voltage possible.

 

[c_for]

I also have a Sabertooth z77 and a 3570k. I am considering doing an OC soon and was wondering about your setup. Do you use the motherboard "shield"? And if so do you use the two fans that came with the mobo?

Also, scroll to the bottom of this webpage and you will find a screen shot of what I think is the bios settings that you are looking for:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z77x-up5-th-z77a-gd80-z77-oc-formula,3305-7.html

 

[euphoria4949]

Ok thanks again n1ghtr4v3n, I'm gonna fiddle around with it and see what I can pull out of it =)
Cheers

I also have a Sabertooth z77 and a 3570k. I am considering doing an OC soon and was wondering about your setup. Do you use the motherboard "shield"? And if so do you use the two fans that came with the mobo?

Also, scroll to the bottom of this webpage and you will find a screen shot of what I think is the bios settings that you are looking for:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z77x-up5-th-z77a-gd80-z77-oc-formula,3305-7.html

Hi c_for,

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate the link you posted but it's pics are of ASUS's Turbo EVO, thank you though. Turbo EVO is OC'ing software, I've seen people using it but I was always brought up that BIOS are by far the best and safest way to OC.

As for my setup, well I DO use the Thermal Armor/Shield and the 2 35mm fans. To be honest I don't think the armor makes much difference in terms of temps but personally I think it looks great so I'm sticking with it =)
The 2 little fans on the other hand DO make a bit of difference regarding temps. I tested these fans quite a lot by disabling them and stress testing to see what MoBo temps I got, then enabled them again and ran the test again. Well I could definitely see a drop in temps on the MoBo.
1 down side from them I found is, the Sabertooth BIOS won't allow you to set the fans below about 50/60% can't remember exactly, so that means they are spinning at something like 4000rpm all the time and as my man cave is in a room just off my bedroom and I leave my PC on a fair bit overnight to download huge files I could sometimes hear them. Not very loud mind you, but I could still hear them. So I would recommend using the ASUS AI Suite II, I set them as Disabled until the temps hit X amount, then they spin at 30/40% and gradually get faster as the temps/load go up.

If you're going to OC your 3570k, do you have an aftermarket cooler already???
Also, I know I'm asking for help my OC'ing, but if you want any more info about my setup or how I OC'ed mine, just let me know.

Cheers

 

[c_for]

Thanks for the help offer. I'm still a bit away from doing my OC as i'm waiting to install my new AC unit since a heavy gaming session can raise my apartments temperature about 10 degrees in the first hour. 580's sli'd really cook.

I've use the mobo fans but have not noticed any increased noise. But that is likely because my case, XSPC H2, is made of extremely thick steel and I live on a noisy main street too. I agree, the shield looks great!

Good luck finding that setting.

 

[euphoria4949]

P.S. If you do decide to use the ASUS AI Suite, piece of advise....... Ignore the temps! LOL, I know that sounds weird but I spent ages trying to figure out why RealTemp and CoreTemp said my CPU temp was lets say 50c and the AI Suite said 40c :-\ I read it's something to do with the software reading the sensors. You will have to run the AI Suite and Real/CoreTemp at the same time and work out the difference.
For me, I ran the AI Suite and RealTemp at the same time and I saw that when my rig was idling, RT said 28c and AI said 18c, then under 100% load RT said 51c and AI said 41c.
So from that I could work out that if I wanted a fan to be off until my CPU hit 40c, I had to set it to switch on at 30c in the AI Suite.

LOL I know that sound stupid but apart from the silly temp readings it's a really good and helpful app.